Oliver Snowdon evaluated their music magazine product. They aimed to replicate conventions of real magazines like Vibe and Q magazines. This included having an eye-catching cover with a dominant artist image, stories surrounding the image, and a consistent color scheme. However, Oliver challenged some conventions by showing more of the artist's body instead of just their face. The target audience is described as 16-25 year old males interested in music and fashion. Spin Media or Bauer Media Group would be suitable distributors due to their experience with similar magazines. Oliver learned skills with Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and YouTube to construct the magazine and evaluate the process. The magazine aims to attract this audience through the bold masthead, cover

1. Media Evaluation
Oliver Snowdon

2. 1.Inwhatwaysdoesyourmediaproduct
use,developorchallengeformsandconventionsof
realmediaproducts?
The first convention I aimed to replicate when designing my
music magazine was having an eye catching cover image,
which draws the attention of the target audience to my
magazine. I used Shiz’Le’Dog’s artist Burnsy for this, as his
direct eye contact seemed fitting for the design I was aiming
for. I chose to have stories on either side, as this works well
on the front cover of Vibe magazine, and makes the magazine
look busy, with lots of music content, rather than a magazine
that is lacking in substance. I chose my colour scheme, that
encompasses three main colours, red black and white on the
basis that more is less, and too many colours may take some
attention away from the articles themselves, or even Burnsy,
the focal point of my magazine. I also kept this colour scheme
for the rest of my magazine, as I felt it worked well on my
cover page, and keeping one colour scheme gives my
magazine a nice flow, making it look like real magazine. One
of the conventions I challenged of the real magazine is that I
didn’t zoom in directly to show Burnsy’s shoulders and face,
this is because his tight shirt and evident chest muscles
further represents the “power” image that both him and
Kanye West possess. Showing Burnsy’s upper body also
attracts a different target audience other than just fashion
and music loving teens, girls. This is because the sexualised
image of Burnsy would appeal to them, and they may buy the
magazine just for this factor.

3. 1.Inwhatwaysdoesyourmediaproductuse,developor
challengeformsandconventionsofrealmediaproducts?
This Vibe magazine featuring rap and music icon Kanye
West gave me a basis on which I could build my own music
magazine, the way Kanye dominates the front cover and
even covers the masthead is something that I felt I could do
with Burnsy, as he has a similar dominant image. I
particularly like the distribution of the articles around
Kanye’s head, either side. This further gives of the idea that
he cant be touched, and represents his egotistical status. I
used this idea with my magazine, as Burnsy has stories
around him, whilst covering the masthead, and displaying a
persona of dominance and masculinity. The choice of a tri-
colour scheme also works well within Vibe Magazine’s
cover, as it represents simplicity, and doesn’t take anything
away from cover star Kanye, further demonstrating his
control over the front cover. I replicated this idea with my
cover page, by using three main colours for text and a
simple white background, so the main focus will always be
on my enlarged masthead and popular artist, Burnsy. One
of the conventions of this magazine I did not like however
was the closeness of Kanye’s face in the cover image, as
zooming out slightly and showing his upper body would
add to the “power” image I am aiming to display in my
magazine, one which I have used by showing Burnsy’s
upper body, exploiting the idea that girl’s will buy the
magazine due to the sexual attraction of Burnsy.

4. 1.Inwhatwaysdoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallengeformsand
conventionsofrealmediaproducts?
My contents page follows the conventional three grid layout, with three grids for different stories and articles. The Q review
section also stands out, with the white, red and black working well together to draw the readers attention. This is what I did,
as this keeps to the overall colour scheme in my magazine. The use of pictures within a contents page is key for Q magazine,
as this attracts the reader to the main stories. I replicated this with my contents page, having pictures of both the
Shiz’Le’Dogs and J Drew. They are the two main stars of my magazine much like Lana Del Rey and Rihanna in Q.

5. 1.Inwhatwaysdoesyourmediaproductuse,developorchallenge
formsandconventionsofrealmediaproducts?
Within my double page spread I aimed to keep
Burnsy as the focal point, so before planning my
double page spread I looked at a real magazine
that had an attractive cover star the audience
would be drawn in to. I also liked the idea of
having the main text to the left of the main image,
so emulated this withy my double page spread.
Another convention that is prominent within
double page spreads is the drop capital, the large
letter at the start of a paragraph. I used this idea,
as it shows the reader where the information
they are looking for is within the double page
spread, and gives a better format than just all
lower case small text.
The colour of the clothing that Burnsy is wearing was
also an important choice, as he needed to stand out from
the background and the rest of the text. The dark blue
against a creamy white background worked similarly to
the black and white in the magazine I was looking at, and
although the artist in the magazine I aimed to replicate
wasn’t making direct eye contact with the camera, from
wider research I realised this is a convention that I
would have to conform to.

6. 2.Howdoesyourmediaproductrepresentparticularsocial
groups?
My cover page represents the social groups
such as trendsters, teenagers and young adult
males, as this is the social group it is likely to
appeal to. Every artist included in my
magazine is male, and I have included the
header above retro saying “For men who love
music”. This directly targets this social group,
as they will read it and want to see why it is
for them.
I have also represented these social groups
through my contents page, as teenagers and
young adults are most likely to listen to the
charts and be interested in what their
favourite artists have to say, or the latest
news about them. Teenagers and young
adults are also very fashion conscious
compared to categories such as 50+, so this is
why I included fashion related articles, to
represent the taste of youngsters for hot off
the block new trends.

7. 3.Whowouldbetheaudienceforyourmediaproduct
The audience for my music magazine is mainly 16-25 year old males, who like and can relate to most of the
artists featured in my magazine. They will also be interested in the fashion element of my magazine, as
both music and fashion go hand in hand when looking at the target groups of Indie, Hipsters and Trendies.
I have further explained my audience, and how my magazine will appeal to them in my YouTube video.

8. 4.Whatkindofmediainstitutionmightdistributeyourmediaproductand
why?
I would use Spin Media to distribute my media product, as they distribute Vibe, a magazine I feel is
similar to my own. Vibe magazine has a look that promotes strong, and popular solo artists, as well as
groups rap duos, however the cover image always focusses on a single person, as does Retro magazine
with Burnsy. Spin Media will know how to distribute Retro, as they have successfully distributed Vibe,
and this is why I feel they would be the ideal choice for getting my magazine out to the masses. Both
Retro and Vibe also focus on similar music tastes, such as rap, R&B and also chart music, this is why I feel
Spin may see Retro as a good venture, and will feel able to make sales off Retro. I think that if Spin didn’t
feel my magazine was right for them, I would propose my magazine to Bauer Media Group, as they are
the company that distributes Q magazine, which I have looked at when creating Retro. Q is also a very
well known magazine, as I hope Retro could be with the backing of a big media institution.

9. 5.Whathaveyoulearntabouttechnologiesfromtheprocessofconstructing
thisproduct?
I have used different technologies in the process of constructing my magazine, but I mainly focussed on using
Adobe InDesign and also Adobe Photoshop. The layout of my magazine was constructed in InDesign, where I
formatted the layout and text, however I used Photoshop to edit my photographs that I shot at an earlier date.
I changed the overall colours and contrasts of my photos, and took the background away from the photo, to
make sure my text was readable on a variated blank background. I have learnt how to construct good,
structured photo shoots, ensuring I have photos to work with and edit. As you can see, my edited photograph
of Burnsy gives me a brighter background to work with, and the colour correction makes him clearer for the
reader to see. I have also learnt how to upload clips to YouTube of myself evaluating and speaking about my
magazine, something which previously would have been alien for me.

10. 6.Howdidyouattract/addressyouraudience?
I firstly attracted my
audience with my bold, red
masthead. This allures the
reader to read my tagline,
“For Men Who Love
Music”, this instantly
addresses my audience.
My story on Burnsy
Also attracts the audience,
as he is my cover star and
focal point. Fans of the
Shiz’Le’Dogs will recognise
Burnsy, and therefore
become absorbed in the
magazine.
My two articles at the
bottom of my magazine
present another factor that
the reader will be attracted
by, chances to win music
gear and also discounted
products from a popular
fashion website. This
addresses my audience as
my target audience includes
trendies, people who are
looking for the latest music,
and secondly fashion which
ASOS promotes
The “Fashion Special”
element of my music
magazine is something
that my audience of
trendies, and also hipsters
will be attracted to
instantly, as they are
always looking to change
their look and embark on
new visual ventures.
I have included popular
artists in my magazine,
with a diverse range of
sounds and images. With
this I aimed to appeal to a
wide range of music fans. I
also aimed to promote
some smaller artists, as
Krept and Konan will
appeal to a smaller market
of music listeners, that are
synonymous with smaller
music magazines.
“Girls . Music . Fashion”, these three elements of
my music magazine address my target audience
by not only showing that my magazine
promotes music, but also fashion and “Girls”,
giving it a slight “Lads” magazine feel,
encompassing a further group that will possibly
by my magazine